Weather! Alex approaching land, cooldown begins

The best news is that the cooldown starts on Wednesday. There’s still some clouds over the area this morning, but sunny skies will return as they clear the area later this morning. High temperatures today will only hit the low 80s.

June 30, 2010; 9:50 AM • by Weather Dan

The best part about that headline is that those two things are not related.

Alex was upgraded to a Category 1 hurricane Tuesday night, and is continuing to intensify as the system approaches the Mexico and Texas coasts. It is still many hours from landfall, but its rain bands are already being felt along the Texas and Louisiana coasts, especially from New Orleans southwestward to South Padre Island.

Yesterday’s high of 93 set a record of most days above 90 degrees in June for Richmond, with 21. Monday’s high of 102 marked the third time we’ve reached 102 this month. Prior to this June, the only time we had reached 102 degrees in June once since records have been kept for Richmond, which began in 1897. The airport also received 0.43 inches of rain from the storms that blew through on Monday, more than doubling the rainfall total for the month. We’re still short almost 2.50 inches for the month and over 3 inches for the year, but it did make a small dent in our deficit.

The best news is that the cooldown starts on Wednesday. There’s still some clouds over the area this morning, but sunny skies will return as they clear the area later this morning. High temperatures today will only hit the low 80s. We’ve had several nights where overnight lows haven’t been much lower than 80 degrees, so this should be a significant break for many who have been suffering from the heat and humidity lately. Low temperatures tonight will also be significantly cooler, dropping to near 60.

Wednesday Night Squirrelcast (7:05pm, vs. Akron): Clear, dry, and significantly cooler tonight. First pitch temperature will be in the mid 70s, dropping into the upper 60s by the ninth inning.

The pattern continues on Thursday. We’re going to start July off on a great note. High temperatures again will only reach the low 80s with far lower humidity than we’ve experienced over the last two weeks. Skies will be partly cloudy, and there’s no rain threat. Lows Thursday night again fall to near 60.

Thursday Night Squirrelcast (7:05pm, vs. Erie): A virtual repeat of Wednesday. Game-time temperatures in the mid 70s; 9th inning temps in the upper 60s.

Looking ahead to Friday and the weekend…models indicate a warming pattern beginning Saturday and Sunday. Highs will start to climb back to near the 90s, especially by Sunday. I’ll have a weekend forecast and an Independence Day preview on Friday.

June 30, 2010 9:50 AM 0